Description

The Fresno California Temple serves about 28,000 members from eight stakes including the Fresno, Fresno North, Fresno East, Fresno West, Hanford, Visalia, Merced, and Porterville stakes, and the California Fresno Mission.

History

The history of the Church in California began in 1846 when Mormons aboard an emigrant ship, the Brooklyn, arrived in what would later become San Francisco. However, it wasn’t until the early 1900s that the first group of Church members was organized in the San Joaquin Valley. It began with three families who met in homes for Sunday services, and the first branch, or small congregation, was formed on November 21, 1920. The branch president, Clarence Fancher, traveled 4,870 miles in one year to find and become acquainted with all the members within about a 90-mile radius, extending to the mountain ranges on the east and west. The branch grew to 600 members and was divided into two branches in 1945. Fresno’s first stake was created in 1951.

Its construction marks significant Church growth in the area extending from the valley floor to the Sequoia National Forest of the Sierra Nevada range.

Announcement

The Fresno California Temple was announced on January 8, 1999, to the delight of the 27,000 Church members who lived within its district and had been traveling to Oakland to attend a temple. The Fresno community received the temple with interest and support, evident in both the construction process and its open house attendance.

Groundbreaking

Civic leaders, including Fresno Mayor Jim Patterson and Councilman Chris Mathys, attended the groundbreaking ceremony on March 20, 1999.

“From the days of the sailing of the ship Brooklyn to San Francisco Bay in 1846 and the forced march of the Mormon Battalion, California has taken a key role in the history of the Church,” said Elder John B. Dickson of the Seventy and president of the North America West Area, who presided over the groundbreaking services.”This is another of those great days.”

Elder Dickson said that since the Church’s organization in April 1830, it has begun to fill the whole earth. “We now find ourselves on the threshold of unprecedented growth and expansion,” he declared.

Speaking of the Book of Mormon, he continued: “What a blessing it is to have this other testimony of the Savior amidst the unbelief of the 20th and 21st centuries. Through these scriptures we have more fully come to understand that God is our Heavenly Father, that we dwelt with Him before this earth life and that part of His plan for our happiness was that a way be prepared for us to return to Him one day….

“We have also learned that the family is the central unit in Heavenly Father’s plan for His children,” Elder Dickson explained. “This brings us to the purpose of our being here today, for we know not only that families are basic and important, but they can also be eternal. The building that will rise on this sacred piece of property is a building dedicated to the proposition of helping us to establish eternal families” ^[1]Church News, 27 March 1999.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Fresno California Temple was held on the same day as the groundbreaking ceremonies for the Fukuoka Japan Temple, Melbourne Australia Temple, and Tuxtla Gutiérrez Mexico Temple.

Open House

The temple was ready for a public open house just one year later on March 25, 2000. During the nine-day open house, more than 53,000 visitors toured the temple. Hap Cluff of the temple committee considered the well-attended open house to be a sign of positive community response.^[2] R. Scott Lloyd, “Fresno California Temple: Symbol of Growth in Fertile San Joaquin,” Church News, Apr. 22, 2000, Of his meeting with Mayor Patterson following the open house, Cluff said, “He spent most of the time asking me about what he learned here [during a tour of the temple] and talking about how nice it was.”^[3] R. Scott Lloyd, “Fresno California Temple: Symbol of Growth in Fertile San Joaquin,” Church News, Apr. 22, 2000,

Dedication

On April 9, 2000, over 10,000 Church members attended four dedicatory sessions held in various rooms of the temple and filling the adjacent meetinghouse, where sessions were transmitted via closed-circuit television. In his dedicatory prayer, Church President Gordon B. Hinckley spoke of the expansion of the Church throughout the world: “Bless Thy cause and kingdom in all the earth. May it roll forth and grow with power and majesty. Open the doors of the nations where it cannot now be taught, that Thy great purposes may come to pass. We pray for all who serve in Thy kingdom in whatever capacity and wherever they may be, that happiness may grow in their hearts as they give of their time and strength to the advancement of Thy kingdom.”^[4] Fresno California Temple dedicatory prayer, in Church News, Apr. 22, 2000,

In his dedicatory prayer he petitioned, “Wilt Thou bless all who will serve within this sacred structure. They will come here to assist in bringing to pass Thy work and Thy glory, even the immortality and eternal life of man.” [1]

Although the Fresno California Temple was the 99th temple to be announced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, its smooth construction process made it the 78th operating temple of the Church.

It is the fourth temple built in California and the first built in the Central Valley.

Details

Location

In the verdant San Joaquin Valley of central California, the Fresno California Temple rises amidst manicured gardens and tropical trees in a residential area of northwest Fresno.

Exterior

The temple’s exterior finish is white Sierra granite. Its design features a single spire topped with a statue of the angel Moroni, a prophet from the Book of Mormon,

and each wall is brightened by rectangular art-glass windows in groups of three. The temple design is similar to that of over 30 smaller temples built in an effort to bring temples closer to Church members around the world.

Interior